Author: Badalian Vardan

GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA READY TO BUY HOUSES IN JAVAKHK FOR ITS CITIZENS SUFFERED FROM NATURAL CALAMITIES
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 15 2006
AKHALKALAK, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. According to Zaza
Imedashvili, the head of the Emigration, Resettlement and Refugees
Department of the Refugees and Resettlement Ministry of Georgia, this
year the Government of Georgia allocated 1 mln 227 thousand lari (about
700 thousand U.S. dollars) to citizens of Georgia suffered from natural
calamities for buying flats. The Government considers mainly Western
Georgia and Ajaria as regions suffered from natural calamities. As the
“A-Info” agency informs quoting official data, it is envisaged to buy
about 220 houses in the regions of Tsalka, Akhalkalak, Ninotsminda
during the current year. Z.Imedashvili explains resettlement of
Georgians in the regions of Javakhk populated by Armenians with the
issue that houses are cheap there. In the opinion of representatives
of the Armenian Public Organizations Council of Samtskhe-Javakhk,
the main goal of this program of the Georgian Parliament is to change
the demographic picture of Javakhk to the detriment of Armenians.

ERDOGAN REITERATES BOYCOTT THREATS TO FRANCE
Armenpress
May 16 2006
ANKARA, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
threatened France with trade sanctions if it adopts a bill making it
illegal to deny that the 1915-17 massacre of Armenians in Turkey was
“genocide,” AFP said quoting from a Turkish newspaper.
“Patience has its limits. We do not have hatred (toward France) but
we will impose our sanctions,” the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet quoted
Turkey’s prime minister as saying at a summit of Muslim countries on
the Indonesian island of Bali. French lawmakers are due to consider
next week a bill from the opposition Socialists which would make
anyone denying the existence of the “Armenian genocide” liable to a
five-year jail term and a 45,000-euro ($57,000) fine.
French MPs should be “particularly sensitive” to the issue of possible
sanctions since France is the number one investor in Turkey, Erdogan
said. “There will possibly be problems.”

ORINATS YERKIR PAYS “INTERESTS” FOR GETTING INTO OPPOSITION
Panorama.am
14:40 16/05/06
By the decision of the Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan,
Araik Grigoryan is dismissed from the post of deputy Trade and Economic
Development Minister as of May 15, 2006. According to government
press services, Artsruni Aghajanyan is also dismissed from the post
of deputy Employment and Social Affairs Minister by another decision
of the prime minister.
These decisions stem from the recent internal political developments
connected with the departure of Orinats Yerkir from the ruling
coalition. Both deputy ministers were nominated by Orinats Yerkir
and were approved by the ruling coalition. Because OY has left the
coalition, its ministers, consequently, leave the executive branch. In
fact, they should have done so on their own will.
Until now, only Stepan Barseghyan, today already former Gegharkunik
regional governor, has resigned on his own will among the officials
nominated by OY.
Sergo Yeritsyan, OY deputy chairman and Aram Harutunyan preferred to
leave the party.

Turkey, Armenia and denial
International Herald Tribune
MONDAY, MAY 15, 2006
Turkey’s self-destructive obsession with denying the Armenian genocide seems
to have no limits. This week, the Turks pulled out of a NATO exercise
because the Canadian prime minister used the term “genocide” in reference to
the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during and after World War I.
Before that the Turkish ambassador to France was temporarily recalled to
protest a French bill that would make it illegal to deny the Armenian
genocide occurred. And before that, a leading Turkish novelist, Orhan Pamuk,
was charged with “insulting Turkish identity” for referring to the genocide
(the charges were dropped after an international outcry).
Turkey’s stance is hard to fathom. Each time the Turks lash out, new
questions arise about Turkey’s claims to a place in the European Union, and
the Armenian diaspora becomes even more adamant in demanding a public
reckoning over what happened.
Granted, genocide is a difficult crime for any nation to acknowledge. But to
treat any reference to the issue within Turkey as a crime and to scream
“lie!” every time someone mentions genocide is absurd. By the same token, we
do not see the point of the French law to ban genocide denial. Historical
truths must be established through dispassionate research and debate, not
legislation, even if some of those who question the evidence do so for
insidious motives.
But the Turkish government considers even discussion of the issue to be a
grave national insult and reacts to it with hysteria. Five journalists who
criticized a court’s decision to shut down an Istanbul conference on the
massacre of Armenians were arrested for insulting the courts. Charges
against four were subsequently dropped, but a fifth remains on trial.
The preponderance of serious scholarship outside Turkey accepts that more
than a million Armenians perished between 1914 and 1923 in a state-sponsored
campaign. Turkey’s continued refusal to countenance even a discussion of the
issue stands as a major obstacle to restoring relations with neighboring
Armenia and to claiming Turkey’s rightful place in Europe and the West. It
is time for the Turks to realize that the greater danger to them is denying
history.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
May 12, 2006 Friday
KARABAKH: WHY DO BREAKTHROUGH AND PEACE REMAIN AN IMPOSSIBILITY FOR
THE TIME BEING?
by Ambassador Vladimir Kazimirov, the head of the Russian mission for
truce in Karabakh
VLADIMIR KAZIMIROV, THE HEAD OF THE RUSSIAN MISSION FOR TRUCE IN
KARABAKH: THERE ARE NO REASONABLE ALTERNATIVES TO PEACEFUL RESOLUTION
OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT; The very idea of a resolution of the
Karabakh conflict by force must be abandoned for good.
Debates over Nagorno-Karabakh are becoming heated: if a peaceful
resolution of the conflict is possible or the Azerbaijanis and the
Armenians are doomed to another test of bloodshed. The opponents may
be counted on to loose a propagandistic barrage to celebrate the next
anniversary of the cease-fire accord. Established with Russia’s help
on May 12, 1994, the accord is actually the only tangible result of
the peace process turned over to the OSCE. This truce is all twelve
years of the talks have to show for the effort.
A year of relative quiet in the political lives of Azerbaijan and
Armenia, 2006 created the illusions of a breakthrough. The meeting of
Presidents Ilham Aliyev (Azerbaijan) and Robert Kocharjan (Armenia)
in France on February 10-11 confirms the old axiom that considerable
expectations usually result in disappointment. And yet, search for
the peaceful resolution of the conflict must continue.
Everyone knows that the Azerbaijanis and the Armenians thoroughly
distrust each other and that’s probably the most distinctive feature
of the old conflict. Distrust of the other side and fear of
deception, treachery, or sabotage account for the sides’
uncompromising stand on the matter. It is as if they are doomed to
striving for fulfillment of their own demands first and foremost. The
Armenians want the status of Karabakh determined. The Azerbaijanis
want seven occupied districts liberated and returned to them. As a
result, the clumsy process of talks breeds blind alleys one after
another instead of progressing from one concession to another.
How can this fatal distrust be lessened? It is this distrust that
precludes accords. Not even their signing will guarantee
implementation. Leaderships should be responsive and tolerant, they
should stop this endless fault finding that encourages mutually
shared hostility. Contacts between structures of the two societies
are needed. This is precisely what is missing.
Nothing feeds mutual distrust as effectively and profusely as threats
and hatred. Needless to say, Azerbaijan is the leader of the two
where threats are concerned. Yerevan and Stepanakert barely manage to
keep up with Baku where state officials never miss a chance to
threaten to settle the matter by sheer strength of arms.
The “peace or war” dilemma in the meantime is false because there are
no alternatives to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Not only
because of something as vague as humanism – because of the rigid laws
of logic, because of the correlation of forces in the region that
does not really call for military adventures. The existing
correlation of forces is going to preclude success for a long time to
come, and a protracted war will deadly. Its advocates cannot even
hope for victory. Even success which is highly unlikely will only
shift the conflict to a new generation.
Everyone objects to continuation of the conflict: Russia, United
States, France, European Union, Commonwealth, NATO, and many others.
What pressure will be applied to the aggressor without even
accomplishing anything yet? Fiasco instead of victory!
It did not take Baku long to forget the bitter years of 1992-1994.
Elaborating at length on occupation of their land, the Azerbaijanis
never display the willingness to get to the root of the matter and
think of how their lands came to be occupied. Moreover, this is an
outright taboo. In the meantime, Azerbaijani leaders have spent years
trying to resolve the conflict by force, refusing to honor and even
wrecking cease-fire. I remember my conversation with President Heydar
Aliyev in Baku on July 20, 1993. I remember his scream “We’ll crush
the Armenians!” This refusal to heed common sense resulted in the
loss of seven districts. Baku is saying that it will win them back in
a war all over again now.
All these calls for vengeance are unlikely to work. They are not
going to compel the Armenians to leave the “security zone” around
Karabakh or to win Azerbaijan support in the international community.
The other way round is more likely. It will be, however, a mistake to
believe that all these calls are made for “domestic use” only and
that Azerbaijan does not really have the strength to do what it
pledges to accomplish. Deceiving the people, sawing enmity, and
maiming psyche of new generations, troubadours of the war only
aggravate distrust and thus interfere with the attempts to resolve
the conflict, slow down the process of tackling moot issues.
Incidents and victims on the line where the warring sides stand face
to face serve to mount tension. The Armenians claim they are prepared
to observe the accord between Azerbaijan, Armenia, and
Nagorno-Karabakh dated February 6, 1995, a document aimed to resolve
incidents and lessen losses. Baku does not bother to honor the accord
and does not even pledge to try to. Neither does the OSCE seem to
care. This latter does not care about the only existing accord on
Karabakh, and the monitoring missions it mounts every now and then
cannot prevent new victims or complications. The arms race President
of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev openly cultivate could only be condemned.
The OSCE is silent on that subject too.
All of these are artificial barriers erected by the ruling elites
because even mutual concessions imply dangers to them. Avoiding
concessions, the elites are trying to retain their positions of power
at the cost of the two peoples. This ostentatious patriotism and
demonization of the enemy are all too frequently corollaries of the
domestic political situation.
Seeking to finally establish peace in Karabakh, the very idea of a
resolution by force must be abandoned for good. That should be a
priority in 2006. No progress is possible without it. Responsibility
for resolution the conflict accepted, the OSCE should become more
determined and never hesitate whenever something compromises its
peace mission. It should not dismiss the threats uttered by state
officials or the hosannah they sing to the arms race. It should not
feign not to notice bloodshed. Both peoples need a breakthrough that
will lead to peace. At least in 2009 or 2010!
Source: Vremya Novostei, May 4, 2006, p. 5

REMUNERATION FOR “PROPER JOB” MUST NOT BE LESS THAN USD 60
Panorama.am
14:59 11/05/06
Government decision set the amount for the remuneration of a proper
job today and standards for access to transport. According to the
decision, proper jobs are offered to people registered at their local
employment centers. Remuneration is defined as an amount which should
be higher than thrice as much as the employment benefit. According
to the standards set for the transport accessibility, it says that
jobs should be offered within the same community so that people can
use only one transport means to get to their work places.
The employment benefit as of January of the running year amounts to
AMD 9000. That is, proper jobs should offer at least AMD 27 thousand
which equals to USD 60.
The decision will unveil cases which are very common in Armenia,
that is, many people do improper jobs since their salaries are lower
than USD 60.

SOUTH KOREA STATES NECESSITY OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION BASED ON STATES’ TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
Author: R. Abdullayev
TREND Info, Azerbaijan
May 11 2006
Azerbaijan and Republic of Korea commit to resolutions of UN
Security Council and documents of OSCE Lisbon Summit, and stress the
necessity in peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based
on sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, reportedly said
Azer Gasymov, head of press service with President’s Administration,
commenting the mutual declaration of Azeri and Korean presidents.
The declaration states stability in Azerbaijan contributing to peace
and security throughout South Caucasus. In a view of social-economic
reforms in Azerbaijan, Baku and Seoul stress their interest in
mutually beneficial and prolonged cooperation in such spheres as trade,
investments, power engineering, industry, science, IT and transport.
With the purpose of this document, the sides outline their readiness
to progress close cooperation for enterprises and business circles
through simplification of mutual relationships.
As per the Clause 9 of the document, Azerbaijan and Republic of Korea
claim their concern in development of transport infrastructure, which,
in turn, will boot the trade.
The special significance is stated by Clause 10 of the document, which
states that pipelines Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum
and designed railroad Baku-Tbilisi-Ahalkalaki-Kars contribute to
progress of countries in the region.
Clause 13 says Azerbaijan Republic advocates peace on Korean
peninsula and supports the policy South Korean government implements
in South-East Asia.

SYDOW: ROJ-TV WON’T BROADCAST IN SWEDEN
New Anatolian, Turkey
May 10 2006
Swedish Parliament Speaker Bjorn Von Sydow assured his Turkish
counterpart Bulent Arinc yesterday that his country won’t allow
broadcasts by pro-terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Roj-TV.
Sydow’s remarks came in response to reports that a private cable TV
company had decided to broadcast Danish-based Roj-TV.
“I learned about the matter during a meeting with Arinc,” explained
Sydow. “We’re investigating the case. But Roj-TV will definitely
not broadcast within Swedish borders,” CNN-Turk TV reported Sydow
as saying.
Press reports have indicated that Sweden has allowed the channel to
broadcast although it recently closed down a website belonging to
Chechen separatists following a complaint from Russia.
Turkey and Denmark are at odds over the Danish governments’ inability
to close Roj-TV, which broadcasts programs encouraging, supporting
and directing the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Although
Turkey has stepped-up pressure on Denmark to close down the channel,
Denmark insists on rejecting the Turkish requests and says that it
needs more evidence to shut it down.
Touching on the Armenian genocide claims, Sydow reportedly stated that
they have left the issue for evaluation by scholars. He said that his
Parliament is among those which haven’t recognized the controversial
incidents as “genocide.”
During his speech to the Swedish Parliament, Arinc also stressed
that Turkey will never recognize the Armenian genocide claims since,
according to history, such an event never happened. He reiterated
previous Turkish calls to open both Turkish and Armenian archives to
study the events.
Arinc: Turks’ religion never been obstacle to Western integration
Arinc stated that the religious beliefs of Turkish citizens has never
been an obstacle to secular Turkey being an indispensable part of
Europe or to its membership in Western-oriented organizations.
“Nobody questioned Turkish people’s religious beliefs when it joined
NATO in 1952 or when it was supported independence in Europe after
the Cold War,” Arinc added.
Lashing out at the EU’s double standards on Turkey’s accession
process, Arinc said, “Despite negative developments, we believe that
EU membership will be beneficial for Turkey. We don’t want privileges,
but we don’t want double standards either.”

THE LITTLE GUYS OF THE OIL BUSINESS
By Ian Bremmer
Slate
May 10 2006
With the stream of alarming news coming from Iran, Iraq, and Nigeria,
media reports of turmoil in places like Chad and Ecuador often go
unnoticed. But in an exceptionally tight energy market, political
uncertainty in some of the world’s largest energy-exporting states
gives new importance to the so-called marginal producers: countries
that produce between 100,000 and 1 million barrels of crude oil per
day. That’s why markets took note when Chad’s president, Idriss Deby,
threatened in April to shut down his country’s 180,000 bpd of oil
production, and when Ecuador’s parliament passed a law in March that
substantially increases the government’s share of oil profits at the
expense of the foreign firms operating there.
The world’s oil suppliers are still able to provide the 85 million
bpd that the world now consumes-but just barely. Spare capacity is
limited to about 1.5 million bpd from Saudi Arabia. So, an output
disruption in even a marginal producer affects global markets, and
some of these states are prepared to leverage their new market power
to political advantage.
Consider Chad, one of the world’s poorest countries. The World
Bank had conditioned financial support for Chad’s oil industry on a
government pledge to allow the bank to direct 85 percent of energy
income into badly needed poverty-reduction, health, and education
programs in the country. In January, when Chad’s parliament voted to
funnel more of the proceeds directly into the country’s treasury,
the bank froze the funds. Armed with new market influence provided
by global price increases, in April Deby threatened to shut down
all Chad’s production unless a consortium of foreign firms led by
ExxonMobil paid his government about $100 million in taxes.
Deby needs the money. On April 13, Chad’s military repelled a surprise
rebel attack on N’Djamena, the capital, that was intended to oust him
from power. Hundreds of rebel fighters were killed. But unless Chad’s
military receives an infusion of cash, its government cannot quell
the unrest produced by those who don’t share in the country’s natural
wealth or support Deby’s approach to the violence in neighboring Sudan.
The president’s threat produced results. Chad and the World Bank
reached an interim agreement on April 26 that increases the percentage
of oil income that will flow directly into Chad’s treasury from 15
percent to 30 percent. Whatever his promises to international lenders,
Deby will probably spend the extra cash on guns. Chad’s oil is more
valuable than ever, but the country’s underlying instability remains.
Ecuador’s government has also recognized its new leverage. The
hydrocarbon law its parliament approved in March sharply increases
the percentage of oil profits the government will claim and violates
the country’s production contracts with more than a dozen foreign
firms. Ecuador produces about 530,000 bpd, but the true measure of its
market power comes from the 190,000 bpd it exports directly to the
U.S. West Coast, making it the third-largest foreign crude supplier
to the Western United States after Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Even small cuts in these supplies would be hard for the Western states
to replace.
Ecuador is unlikely to follow Chad’s lead and threaten a production
shutdown, but the country’s frequent strikes and production
stoppages-including one in 2005 that interrupted crude supplies for
two weeks and helped drive up the price of New York-traded oil futures
by about $2 per barrel-pose substantial risks for U.S. markets.
Many more of these marginal producers pose risks for consumers.
Africa provides nearly 20 percent of U.S. oil imports, mostly from
the Gulf of Guinea region. Widespread piracy off Africa’s west coast
could affect U.S.-bound oil supplies from countries like Angola and
Equatorial Guinea, the second- and third-largest African exporters
of oil to the United States after Nigeria.
In the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf region, two marginal
producers in particular face domestic challenges that could undermine
their ability to maintain production levels. Yemen now produces
more than 400,000 bpd, but the country’s weak central government
will struggle to ease domestic social tensions and manage threats
from Islamic militants in the lead-up to September’s presidential
elections. Bahrain, which produces nearly 200,000 barrels of crude
per day, is a majority Shiite state ruled by a Sunni royal family.
Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq could fuel sectarian tensions there.
Another reason that political strife in Yemen or Bahrain could add
to global price fluctuations: Both states border major oil production
and transit points.
In the Caspian region, political conflict in Azerbaijan could disrupt
supplies. Despite his re-election last November, President Ilham
Aliyev’s ability to implement policy is limited by an emerging group
of oligarchs. In addition, tensions have re-emerged with Armenia over
the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, the site of a war between
the two countries in the early 1990s.
Some 400,000 bpd will flow through Azerbaijan toward the Mediterranean
by the end of this year via the newly opened Baku-Ceyhan pipeline;
as many as 1 million bpd are expected by 2009.
While another war over the enclave is unlikely, even low-level fighting
there could threaten the pipeline, which passes within 10 miles of
Nagorno-Karabakh’s northern border.
What’s more, the market power these states now enjoy may well breed
new political turmoil, as increased investment and inflows of cash
give competing domestic factions more lucrative spoils to fight over.
In the Republic of Congo, a country that produces a little over 240,000
bpd and is already plagued by ethnic unrest and threats of civil war,
high energy revenues have fueled rampant corruption. In recent years,
an estimated $500 million have changed hands there in black-market
oil trading. The state-owned oil company SNPC has sold hundreds of
millions of dollars’ worth of cut-price oil to private businesses with
ties to the government. The country faces threats from southern-based
rebel groups who hope to oust President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and win
a greater share of the new wealth. Rich offshore reserves have fueled
maritime disputes with some of the country’s neighbors.
Conflicts in some of these states also increase tensions between the
most powerful consumer nations. The United States is currently leading
efforts to impose international sanctions on Sudan in response to
government-supported violence in the country’s Darfur region. Sudan is
expected to produce about 500,000 barrels of crude per day by the end
of this year. More than half its oil exports flow directly to China,
which has blocked sanctions on Khartoum in the past and threatens to
do so again.
The tight oil market has given energy companies, particularly
smaller independents, new incentives to scramble for contracts in
less familiar states. To protect their market shares and to profit
from rising prices, these firms have little choice but to accept
the risks that marginal producers pose for their investments-and
for the industrialized economies that are increasingly dependent on
their product.
Oil production data from International Energy Agency annual figures
for 2005.
Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group, the global political risk
consultancy. His book The J Curve: A New Way To Understand Why Nations
Rise and Fall will be published in August 2006.
map at

“MIKA” WON THE FOOTBALL CUP OF ARMENIA FOR THE 5TH TIME
A1+
[12:03 pm] 10 May, 2006
In the final match of the Armenian football cup “Mika” from Ashtarak
beat “Pyunik” 1:0 for the second time in a row and won the cup of
Armenia for the fifth time in its history.
Armen Shahgeldyan became the hero of the game. At the 26th minute
he made use of the mistake of Rafayel Safaryan, defender of “Pyunik”
and scored.
During the press conference after the game coach of “Mika” Armen
Adamyan mentioned that after the A-320 crash it was more difficult for
the players to prepare for the game as “Armavia” is their sponsor. “We
did not have the right to lose the game, and we did it. I’m proud of
my players”.